cuz this is our country

Pictures from trip south are posted here. We covered it all over the two day span, from debating West Virginia's role in the Civil War to sorting out the best used car with ideal seating for four. (Ummm, the 2001 Nissan Sentra did not win.) A few more successful trips to Charles Town and the down payment on the Hummer is locked in.

Mixed emotions on the Saturday having lost Mass Romantic via claim. She was taken by Tim Keefe, who trains for a lot of breeders, so I imagine that the plan will be to breed her in the new year. She's got the pedigree and is a really sweet horse, so if they can somehow match her up with a stud that can help add some substance (particularly in back), I think she has a shot to be a nice broodmare. I really hope they have some luck.

I'll try to get a copy of Veiled Reference's win over the boys up in the next week or so. She ran really well, certainly impressing the lot of us down there for the afternoon. She broke well, secured a nice early position running through heavy dirt on the first turn (see photo of her after race), sat four lengths back down the backside and took control of the race into the far turn with a sharp attack on the pacesetters. They were tired from knocking heads with each other, but it's very nice to have a filly that seems capable of sitting just off a legit pace battle and forging ahead just as the speed is most vulnerable. As was the case yesterday, it enables her to get the jump on the closers and then rely on her stamina to gallop strongly through the lane. She was more distracted than anything in the stretch yesterday ("Oh, look at that grandstand. Are those people yelling for me?"), but she was without the blinkers that she's accustomed to having (long story, but locals' idea of hospitality is somewhat twisted; it's like they don't want us in town to take their money...), so I've got to give her a break on that score. We'll take steps to get them back on her next out and she should be more focused on running as opposed to the new winter jackets sported out on the apron. Chart of the race is here. She'll get a few weeks now and if all is well we'll look to run her back in a stakes at Charles Town in late December. She's certainly earned the opportunity and it could make for a fun Christmas weekend. I'll have to hunt down a Santa hat for her to sport in the paddock before the race just to keep things festive.